NHL Playoffs in the Playground

[Flame_Drake]

Here we go again!

East:
Sabers (1) vs Islanders (8) 0-0
Devils (2) vs Lightning :smallyuk: (7) 0-0
Trashers (3) vs Rangers (6) 0-0
Senators (4) vs Penguins (5) 1-0

West:
Wings (1) vs Flames (8) 0-0
Ducks (2) vs Wild (7) 1-0
Canucks (3) vs Stars 1-0
Predators (4) vs Sharks (5) 0-1

Last Nights Games:

Penguins 3 Senators 6 Final

A good game for the Sens, but it was in large part due to the fact that the Pens seemed to completely forget how to play hockey. Crosby, Malkin and Stall were all held shotless in the first and Stall was the only one to have a shot in the second.

Sharks 5 Predators 4 Final 2nd OT

Stars 4 Canucks 5 Final 4th OT

The game that would not freaking end. They were two minutes from going into a fifth Overtime period when Henrik Sedin scored to finally end it. My question is: Was Luongo thinking "My God, are they all like this?". He made 72 saves while Turco made 51.

Wild 1 Ducks 2

And discuss!

GO FLAMES GO


:smallbiggrin:
Drake

[nivek1234]

I wish hockey was televised more where I am... It's depressing.

4 overtimes? Does that put it into the top 5 for length? I can never remember correctly.

I like the Red Wings. Grew up on them and the Penguins. Then came the Blue Jackets. Oh the Blue Jackets. You are my hometown team, and I try to root for you. Must you come up with spectacular ways to lose games?

[Lucky]

Let's hope this thread lasts longer than mine.

First off, GO SENS GO!!!

Second, who are the Leafs playing again? Oh... right... *makes putting motions*

Anyways, that aside, I don't think you are giving enough credit to the Sens. Biased opinion? Of course, but I honestly think you underestimated the defensive prowess of Phillips and Volchenkov (who we will have for the next 4 and 3 years respectively, alright!). They did a great job of shutting down Crosby up until the end of the game. That and every time the Alfredson-Spezza-Heatley line stepped on the ice, the puck ended up in the Penguins zone for the next 40 seconds.
They fell apart in the last few minutes, but overall they put forth a very solid effort.

Also, Jonathan Cheechoo is out already!! I picked him for my playoff pool and he goes down the same day! GAH!!! Luckily, I have 5 other Sharks to keep up the good work.

[Flame_Drake]

Anyways, that aside, I don't think you are giving enough credit to the Sens. Biased opinion? Of course, but I honestly think you underestimated the defensive prowess of Phillips and Volchenkov (who we will have for the next 4 and 3 years respectively, alright!). They did a great job of shutting down Crosby up until the end of the game. That and every time the Alfredson-Spezza-Heatley line stepped on the ice, the puck ended up in the Penguins zone for the next 40 seconds.
They fell apart in the last few minutes, but overall they put forth a very solid effort.


I fully agree on all points, you will notice that I did mention the fact that all of the Pen's stars were effectively shut down all game. I wrote this up trying to summerize both games after the Canucks game. The fact that I rembered anything is amazing at all. I was just pointing out that in the first period the Pens looked like a midget team, the Sens played a good game all game.

Drake

[Athelgar]

Woo! Go Sens!
Now, as of right now, I think I'll let Flame update whatever he wants to after tonight. But i'll make my meager first round predictions\hopes

I see the Sabres over N.Y.I in 5
I've got a good feeling that Tampa Bay will take it from New Jersey in the 7th (Lecavalier and St. Louis are jsut rakein em in for my pool Woo hoo!)
Trashers and my pal Hossa will take out the Rangers in 6
And ofcourse my beloved Sens defeating Pittsburgh and the crybaby in 6.

As for the West i'm a bit out of date but i have to say that Detroit is looking awful good, for my pools sake im hoping for a Vancouver-Detroit semi.

[clarkvalentine]

My beloved Penguins got absolutely spanked. To borrow a quote from Joe Mullen from a few years back "That was a good old-fashioned asskicking." Youth and inexperience - do they have it in them to come back from that shellacking? We shall see...

[Andiamo]

As much as I support Canadian teams (go Calgary and Vancover!), I'm actually going for Pittsburgh in the first round here, as I can't stand Ottawa. And if Buffalo doesn't show the Islanders who's boss, I'll be very upset. Damn Islanders.

I'm a Leafs fan, if you couldn't tell.

[General Leitmann]

I'm pulling for the Sens because my team kinda won only 2 games since trading Smyth... :'( (and no I'm not going to cheer for the Islanders, even though they put the Loafs out and have Smitty...)

And then on top of that, Les Habitants Canadien de Montréal didn't make it either, who was who I was behind since the Oilers flopped... I might as well cheer for a team I don't want to win the way my luck is going...

And my predictions for the confrence champs? I see the Flames pulling it out over Detroit in 7 and riding that happiness all the way to the Western Conf. championship. East goes to the Sens, hands down.

As for the Cup champs? I'm going to say the Sens in 5, for some reason, I don't think that this year's Stanley Cup finals will be as nail-biting as it was last year (especially for me, :smallbiggrin:)

[Indurain]

Predictions:

Buffalo over NYI in 5
N.J. over T.B. in 6
ATL over NYR in 7
Sens over Pitts in 6

Detroit over Calgary in 6
Vancouver over Dallas in 7
S.J over Nashville in 7
Anaheim over Minnesota in 6

Personally, I'm cheering for the Flames and the Sabres.

Flames - they've always been my second team (Behind my tragic Leafs)
Sabres - So New York gets a nice big dose of Dubbie isn't as good as you think!

[General Leitmann]

Sabres - So New York gets a nice big dose of Dubbie isn't as good as you think!

I don't think NY's coach is riding the Dubbie train at all, frankly. He's just putting off putting DiPietro as netminder because of medical reasons. Even with Dubbie's big-ass poke-check to get the Islanders into the PO's, I think NY's coach woulda placed Ricky in there right away, he's a great stick handler.

[Lucky]

S.J over Anaheim in 7
Anaheim over Minnesota in 6


Whoa! The Ducks are a busy team! :smallwink:

I agree with most of these picks, except I picked NYR over Atl, and I picked Dallas over Vancouver.

And with the Rangers up 2-0 over the Thrashers, 'least one of my picks are looking good. :smallcool:

[Cybren]

Let's not call the Islanders "New York", please. There's already a real time there.

[Indurain]

Whoa! The Ducks are a busy team! :smallwink:

I don't know why, but it just always seems like Sharks and Ducks always meet in the playoffs.

[Lucky]

I don't know why, but it just always seems like Sharks and Ducks always meet in the playoffs.Well, assuming they both win, and so do the Wings and the Stars, they will again. :smallsmile:

Wait... CRAP!

*says goodbye to his 6 SJ players in his playoff hockey pool*

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Here we go again!

GO FLAMES GO


:smallbiggrin:
Drake


I Beg to Differ Drake... :smalltongue:

Red Wings up 2-0 in the series. I grew up watching every single Red Wings game on TV.. since I moved to NH the only time that I can catch them is when they play the Bruins (which is freaking NEVER!) or when they are on Vs once in a million games, or in the playoffs. Detroit has been bounced out of the playoffs early too many times... it is a return to dominance!!!

http://www.sportslogos.net/images/Hockey/NHL/DET_79.gif

[clarkvalentine]

Congrats Senators, you guys were the better team.

( Rassa' frassa' *grumbles*. )


:smallwink:

[Lucky]

Congrats Senators, you guys were the better team.

( Rassa' frassa' *grumbles*. )


:smallwink:WOOOOOOO!!!

You bet we were. :smallbiggrin:

[Chunklets]

I'm always up for watching Sidney Crosby play, but I was, in my heart of hearts, pulling for the Sens in this one. Hopefully they can get that 2nd round monkey off their backs now!

And the hated Stars are floundering; life is good! :smallbiggrin:

[Indurain]

I'm always up for watching Sidney Crosby play, but I was, in my heart of hearts, pulling for the Sens in this one. Hopefully they can get that 2nd round monkey off their backs now!

And the hated Stars are floundering; life is good! :smallbiggrin:

QFT...yeah, even the Senators bit. That's right...you heard me Lucky, this round I was cheering for the Sens. Only because it's so much fun to watch them build up the city's hope only to crush it in the second round. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Oh...and GO FLAMES!!

[Flame_Drake]

I Beg to Differ Drake... :smalltongue:

Red Wings up 2-0 in the series. I grew up watching every single Red Wings game on TV.. since I moved to NH the only time that I can catch them is when they play the Bruins (which is freaking NEVER!) or when they are on Vs once in a million games, or in the playoffs. Detroit has been bounced out of the playoffs early too many times... it is a return to dominance!!!

http://www.sportslogos.net/images/Hockey/NHL/DET_79.gif

We shall see, we shall see...

Drake

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

It was a wicked game today (4/21/07) Drake. There was a bit too much after the whistle BS... and the slash by the Flames backup goaltender was just not cool :smallfurious: .

It went both ways all day. I know that the type of play that happened today is not indicative of either team; it is going to be a good finish to the series. :smallsmile: . I have all the respect in the world for Iginla, Kipper, and the rest of the Flames (even still Darren McCarty [any reason why he's not playing?]). The finish to this series is going to be brutal, but not like today.

[Chunklets]

So, um, who's the Flames' third-string goalie? I can't see the NHL letting McLennan completely off the hook for that bit of idiocy.

And, while idiocy it might have been, it was the latest episode in a long and glorious tradition of goalies turning into lumberjacks during the playoffs - Billy Smith, anyone? And then, of course, there was Ron Hextall - poor-quality YouTube video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqe8wlQ2ybU).

Anyway, the rest of that series ought to be great fun!

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

McLennan got 5 games, the coach and team were also fined 125,000. Sending a message, much?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-flames-mclennan&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Chunklets]

I'm actually a bit surprised at how violent these playoffs have been - it's my impression that they're usually hard-hitting, but without the extra-curricular stuff. But Ottawa-Pittsburgh, San Jose-Nashville, Anaheim-Minnesota, and of course Calgary-Detroit have all been really chippy.

Anyway, New Jersey is through to the next round, as of this afternoon. I think the only surprise there is how much of a handful Tampa Bay turned out to be.

C'mon, Vancouver, don't blow it now...

[Indurain]

Well, the stage has been set for round two. First off, thoughts on the best series? My answer is the obvious one: Vancouver/Dallas. I love a great goaltenders dual, and this series was the epitome of that. Turco is crazy, but he kept Dallas in the series when they had no right to be after game 5. I watched every period of this series (except Game 6), and it was exciting right from the first puck drop. Way to go Vancouver!!

Ducks vs Canucks - Canucks in 7 (Luongo is on a mission, and the Ducks don't have the key)
Red Wings vs Sharks - Sharks in 7 (Sure this may be my hatred for Detroit talking, but Hasek wasn't challenged much against Calgary *sniff*, and when he was he looked shaky)
Sens vs Devils - Devils in 6 (Two words: Bro-deur!! Emery doesn't have what it takes to stand up to the veteran at the other end of the ice.)
Sabres vs Rangers - Sabres in 6 (Rangers surprised most people in the first round, but they're up against the President's cup winners, and all the Jagrs in the world can't help them now.)

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I really don't know who will win out of the Ducks or Canucks, but my bet is whoever wins that series will win the cup. If not one of them, my money is still on the Western Conference. It's much tougher competition overall in the West than the East. Even though I'm disappointed that the Wild didn't go further, I really didn't expect them to get past Anaheim.

[CindyKay]

Go Red Wings!
That Ducks/Canucks game tonight was good. Loved McDonald's hat trick at the very end!
I think it will be a Red Wings/Senators final with Red Wings all the way.
Sorry about Vancouver, Chunklets.

[Lucky]

AAAAAANNNNNDDDDD Sens take the first game in enemy territory! It was a lot tighter than I would have liked, and wound up being a lot tighter than the first period suggested it would. Let's hope the rest of the games go more like the first period, not like the second.

In all honesty though, if we intend to win any more games, we need to play better defensively, as well as get more pressure in the offensive zone. We aren't going to score 5 on Brodeur every game, we were fortunate tonight.

And it will San Jose-Ottawa in the finals, with Ottawa taking the Cup home...

I wish.

Buffalo-Anaheim, with Buffalo winning the Cup.